


Flash! Ah-Oh my god!

by LetMeEntertainYou



Category: Queen (Band)
Genre: Epilepsy, Epileptic!John, Gen, Seizures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 16:56:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19155190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetMeEntertainYou/pseuds/LetMeEntertainYou
Summary: He was on stage and Flash! had just started. The lights above started to pulsate with the drums, the riser itself flickering at a nauseating speed. They weren’t even a full 20 seconds into the song and John knew it was game over. A familiar feeling starting creeping into him. The fuzzy aura of obscured vision and the painful sensation of his fingers breaking. He knew he’d be on the floor in a matter of moments. He could only hope somebody would notice and stop the show.





	Flash! Ah-Oh my god!

**Author's Note:**

> My blog is Disabled-Queen-HC on tumblr.  
> Anon asked: Epileptic!John. His meds are good, but one night the pyrotechnics and new strobe lights are just too much along with stress, and he has a grand mal seizure on stage in front of cameras and thousands of people.

John remembered going to soundcheck the night before and admiring the electric output this venue had. In most places, they tried to save as much power as they could for the important things. The lighting. The instruments. The mics. The last thing they needed was for them to blow a fuse trying to put on too many things as once.

Not here. This place seemed to have endless output. The lights on Roger’s drum riser shone bright, flickering faster. The colored lights from above spun more chaotically, intensely. He was excited to see how it’d look the next day, at night in front of thousands. He didn’t have a single worry in his head, his epilepsy not even occurring to him. His medications were finally balanced. He’d never been photosensitive. Why even think about something that’s never happened?

 John’s a worrier though. And he wished he had been a bit more inquisitive as he snooped around the breaker and wires that previous night. A bit anxious over the power they had. Had a tiny morsel of forethought. It was far too late for any of that though.

He was on stage and Flash! had just started. The lights above started to pulsate with the drums, the riser itself flickering at a nauseating speed. They weren’t even a full 20 seconds into the song and John knew it was game over. A familiar feeling starting creeping into him. The fuzzy aura of obscured vision and the painful sensation of his fingers breaking. He knew he’d be on the floor in a matter of moments. He could only hope somebody would notice and stop the show.

His head began to throb, vision swimming as he set his bass down. And then John went down.

♚ 

“Flash! Ah- Oh my god!” was the last thing the audience heard before chaos broke out on stage. Freddie was the first to notice, singing and gyrating the closest to the bassist. He didn’t even think twice about dropping his microphone to kneel besides John.

Brian was second, his guitar stopping with a ear splitting screech. He was happy in those moments his legs were so long. He ran across the stage in a heartbeat, helping Freddie clear the area around John. Shoving wires aside, moving a mic stand away from John’s head, nudging the edge of an amp away. 

Roger tumbled off his riser, knowing exactly what happened. As fans gasped and screamed, he ran to the side of the stage, barking out the orders to cut the lights, cut the mics, cut everything!

Throughout the panic, John just laid on the floor, thrashing, gargling and wheezing. His eyes rolled back, limbs vibrating. His face contorted, gasping every so often. His head rolled, trunk slamming up and down against the unforgiving floor. 

It was always hard to watch.

At least the lights went off, giving John some privacy. 

Roadies and stage hands came out with flash lights, keeping them low enough so the crowd couldn’t see what was happening. They talked in hushed whispers, even though the fans were loud enough to drown out a jet engine.

“What the fuck’s happening?”

“He’s having a seizure.”

“Let’s call an ambulance.”

“No no. Let’s wait. 5 minutes right?”

“Nobody had the time when he started. I have no idea how long he’s been like this.”

“Can we just wait? Please? He’ll come around…”

“I’m calling the ambulance, fuck this.”

“Aren’t you supposed to put something in his mouth?”

“ _ **NO!**_ ”

Although the band considered themselves experts in dealing with seizures, they never experienced one on stage. They were frazzled, filled with adrenaline, confused. Nobody had a clue how long John had been seizing or what they could do to safely move him off the stage. Everyone was screaming at each other and nothing was getting done. 

Luckily, someone found the brain to call 999. John was probably fine, but his lips were blue and he couldn’t stop frothing at the mouth. So, it was good to have some actual medical help. Just in case.

They waited in tense silence for either John to stop or a paramedic to rush in, all while the fans were being escorted out of the venue. They knew video and photos had been taken of this but there didn’t need to be any more. For John’s sake. He’d die if a photo of him ended up on the papers.

They all sighed when John finally slowed, his movements becoming less jerky, less strenuous. Until he stopped all together, laying limp on the floor.

They all nearly collapsed when the paramedics arrived just then. Leaving it to a professional felt so much safer.

♚

When John woke up in the hospital, he was tired, sore and ready to go back to sleep. He didn’t question the sudden change of location. He was still confused and only craved some serious slumber. He could figure it out later.

“Oh! He’s awake! Deacy, darling!” Freddie called out, patting John’s cheek in an attempt to keep his eyes open. John whined, swatting weakly at Freddie. 

“Look everyone! He’s awake!” Freddie said, not letting John’s complaining stop him. Two other faces filled his vision. 

John groaned, his brain struggling to piece together what was happening. 

“Jesus, mate, you nearly gave me a heart attack,” Roger said, ruffling John’s hair. John swatted at him too.

“Yeah. You never reacted like that to lights before. What the hell was that?” Brian added, squeezing John’s shoulder.

While still a bit frazzled, John was able to figure out he had a seizure. And then he had a sudden realization he was in the middle of a concert when it happened.

“Oh my god. I seized? On stage?” he asked, his vision clearing.

The three went meek, nodding slowly. John could only begin to think about the implications that had.  He had a million questions, a billion concerns, but for some reason, the only thing that came out of his mouth was:

“Did it look cool?”

Freddie started to lightly slap at John’s chest, holding back a screech. “You almost killed us and that’s your only worry!!! We’re in a bloody hospital room!”

Brian snorted, burying his face into his hands. Of course John would ask that. 

“You did! All eyes were on you!” Roger said, chuckling hard. 

Despite being almost beaten by Freddie, John was given the all clear to go home just a few hours after his arrival to the hospital. It was a run of the mill tonic-clonic seizure. Nothing to worry about. Just avoid a certain type of flashing light and he’d be good.

He was escorted home by the boys, who went over everything that happened during the car ride, wondering if it really was the lights, how they could fix it next time around, how they were going to refund the tickets and so on. Meanwhile, John napped on Roger’s shoulder, drooling a little bit. He knew the next few days would be hell with tabloids and management. He wanted to sneak in as much peace as he could before the storm. 

Sleepily, John mumbled, “Don’t you guys think it’s funny I had a seizure during Flash,”

“Go the fuck to sleep,” Brian said, absolutely not having anymore of this funny post seizure John. 

John giggled but let himself drift off. 


End file.
